My First Real Friend
by MysteryWriter2187
Summary: A 5-chapter prequel to my He's Mine trilogy showing how Hiccup and Camicazi met and the letters they exchanged between the treaty signings. Takes place over the years before, during and after the first film and leads to Cami's arrival on Berk in He's Mine. Not Toothless' POV, for obvious reasons.
1. Meeting (pre-movie)

**AN: This is 3-4 years before the first film. Camicazi and Hiccup are both 12.**

* * *

As Stoick and the other representatives got off the ship, Hiccup awkwardly followed behind them. He'd been on treaty-signing trips with his father before, but it was always either the Berserkers or the Uglithugs. He'd never been to the Bog Burglars' island, and was dreading the thought of it the entire trip there.

 _"Hello, Bertha..."_ Stoick said without much enthusiasm to the big-boned, intimidating woman at the dock. _"Stoick..."_ she nodded, before glancing down and noticing the weedy, small boy behind the Hooligan chief.

 _"This is Hiccup, I presume..."_

"Aye..." Stoick answered, rolling his eyes without even looking at his son. Bertha chuckled, saying _"his name isn't a deceptive one, at least... shall we?"_

Hiccup sat alone at the dock as Stoick, Bertha and the others walked away. His father always hated it when he stepped outside without being watched, since it usually meant that disaster was soon to follow. But he couldn't sit here all day. He had to get into the village eventually. So, after about five minutes of silent panicking, he stood up and walked into the currently empty village square.

 _"Great... a whole day stuck on an island full of terrifying warrior women... what could go wrong? **OW!** "_

He picked himself off of the ground, rubbing his head as he noticed the small, bent pipe that had hit him on the floor. _"What the..."_

Hiccup looked up to see more pipes getting thrown out of a blacksmith stall right in front of him. He picked up the ones on the floor and slowly walked over to the stall, putting his ear to the door to hear some fumbling and grumbling inside.

 _"Uh... excuse me..."_ he said as he slowly creaked the door open, only for the noises to suddenly stop. _**"Ugh..."**_ he slowly walked into the stall, the pipes in his arms and his footsteps on the ground being the only noises as he lay them all on the table. _"I'm uh... I'm just gonna leave these here... **AAHHH!** Oh, Gods!"_

He was taken off his feet, landing hard on his back as a hooded figure stood in the darkness above him. Hiccup went wide-eyed, terrified at the sight of this figure and not knowing who or what it was.

 _ **"Well, well, well... what have we here..."**_ the figure revealed herself as she stepped into the light and removed her hood. She was about 12, not a year's difference older or younger to Hiccup, but was at least a head shorter than he was. She was thin, for a Bog Burglar girl, and over her yellow shirt she wore a sleeveless fur vest that was clearly too big for her, just like Hiccup's. Her hair was a messy blonde, and was clearly as untouched by human hands as an Amazonian rainforest.

Hiccup was initally at ease with the girl's seemingly less-than-intimidating appearance, before she pulled out a long, shining sword and pointed it right at him. _**"You know... you've got a cute face, for a boy at least... I think I can fix that for you..."**_

 _"N-no, no! You uh... you can't hurt me!"_

 ** _"Oh, really!"_ **the messy-haired girl snapped. **_"Let's test that, shall we?"_**

As she brought the blade closer to his face, Hiccup shrieked a little higher. _"Uh... n-no, I said that wrong... um, well... without a doubt, you **can** hurt me. Trust me, it's actually be pretty easy. I don't do well with pain. I stub my toe, I'm pretty much done for the day, you know what I..."_

 _ **"Get to your point before this sword's point gets to you!"**_

 _"Okay, you **can** hurt me but you **shouldn't**..."_ Hiccup snapped. The girl brought her sword away a bit, saying "and _why_ would that be?"

"Because I'm the son of the Hooligan chief and therefore a political ambassador..." Hiccup answered, crossing his arms with a smug grin on his face as he got up. "Unless you want to disrupt this treaty signing and cause all-out war between our tribes, I suggest you leave me be..."

"Hm... you make a good argument, _for a boy at least..._ " the girl said, before her eyes went wide. "Hang on... the Hooligan Chief's... _Hiccup?_ "

 _"Uh, yeah. Great name, I know, but... it's not the worst. See, parents believed that a..."_

"No, no. I'm... look, I met you once before..."

 _"Really?"_

"Yeah... we were, like, six... you know... _Beserker Island?_ When you went swimming with Dagur..."

"Well, we didn't really go swimming." Hiccup snarked. "He was trying to drow... _whoa..._ wait, _you're_ the one who..."

 _ **"Who broke his nose and saved you! Yeah!"**_ the girl said excitedly as she unsheathed her sword. _"I was **not** expecting to run into you of all people today..."_

"And your tone of voice implies that you're not dreading every second of it, so win-win..." Hiccup shook her hand. "And you are...?"

"I am _Ze Great Camicazi_..." she answered proudly. "Heir to the Bog Burglar Tribe, master swordswoman and the most cunning and talented burglar in the _**entire**_ Archipelago… _at your service_ …"

"Hm... is it okay if I just call you _Cami?_ "

* * *

The two sat talking in the forge, watching their parents signing the treaty outside. Hiccup wasn't interested, being too busy drawing in his book, while Cami was sharpening her sword as she observed Stoick.

"So... are you _absolutely_ sure that Stoick is _your_ dad?"

"Are you kidding? If we didn't live in the same house, even _I'd_ refuse to believe it..." Hiccup scoffed as he kept drawing. "We barely make eye contact. And... and when we _do_ , there's always this... this... _disappointed_ scowl... you know, like, somebody skimped on the meat in his sandwich..."

 _" **Ha ha HAA HAA ha...** oh, man... I can **really** see your old man being like that..."_ Cami laughed, before straightening herself up with her fists clenched, trying to mimic Stoick. _**"Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side! This here, this is a talkin' fishbone!"**_

Hiccup remained straight-faced, before saying "ugh... well, I wouldn't be surprised if that were true..."

"Oh no, come on. I'm only messing..." Cami said, affectionately hitting him on the shoulder. "See, Hiccup, here's the thing... there's the _Viking_ way, and then there's _your_ way. And _your_ way makes grown men, like your dad, feel a little... well... _uncomfortable_..."

"Uh-huh... and speaking of uncomfortable, I'd like a new conversation, please..."

"Well okay..." Cami said with a brow raised. _"Any girls back on Berk catch your eye?"_

 _"Wait, what?"_ Hiccup quickly closed the book he was drawing in and put it behind his back. When he was able to process her question, he cleared his throat and said "to be honest, everyone at Berk either _hates_ or flat-out _ignores_ me, so I pretty much like to return the favour. That applies to _both genders_ , by the way..."

"And what about _this_ girl?" Cami said suddenly, holding up the book opened on the page showing a drawing of a young girl their age. Hiccup went wide-eyed, reaching behind his back frantically as Cami said _"don't bother checking. It's the same one..."_ in a sing-song voice.

 _"Gods..."_ he scoffed under his breath. Cami flicked through the pages, many of which had multiple pictures of the same girl, before saying "so, what's her name?"

"Ugh... _Astrid_. Astrid Hofferson..." Hiccup sighed. Cami nodded, saying _"hm... very interesting... I'm gonna assume you haven't talked to her..."_

"You assume correctly." Hiccup snarked.

 _"Pft... typical boy..."_

"In my defence, Astrid wouldn't come near me if she was on fire and I had the last bucket of water in the entire Archipelago..."

"Well, I think you're pretty cute..." Cami said, pinching Hiccup's cheek patronisingly. Hiccup chuckled, saying _"for a boy, at least?"_

"Yep." Cami said with a grin. "But that's saying a lot... hell, I'm not even interested in boys anyway... but this Astrid girl... _whoo..._ if this picture's as realistic as it looks..."

 _"Great. Well, I can't wait to get home so I never have to speak of this ever again..."_ Hiccup snarked under his breath. Cami, sounding somewhat disappointed, said "alright... let's _write_ about it, then..."

"Write?"

"Yeah. You know, like letters?"

"Letters?"

"Yeah... I've had more fun with you today than anyone else on this boring heap of rock..." Cami said. "I wanna keep in touch..."

"Cami... you wanna keep in touch... with _**me?**_ "

 _"Sure. Who wouldn't?"_ Cami laughed. Hiccup chuckled weakly, before saying _"well, pick a number... **OW!** "_

Cami punched him on the shoulder, saying "piece of advice, Haddock. If you depreciate yourself, you're just letting others depreciate you..."

Hiccup smiled, rubbing his probably-bruised shoulder as he said _"duly noted... alright... let's give this pen-pal thing a shot, then..."_


	2. Letters (movie 1)

**AN: These are several letters exchanged shortly before and during the events of the first film.**

* * *

 _Hey Hiccup._

 _It's been a while since I last wrote (been really busy this summer trying to learn how to play Maces and Talons - Gods, that game is impossible to understand!) so I just wanted to check how you were doing.  
_

 _Apparently the raids have been hitting Berk hard recently. So I'm going to assume you're still a walking talking twig. Anyway, just let me know, since I'm not really up to much._

 _Cami._

 _P.S. Did you talk to Astrid yet? Or, more realistically, have you killed any Night Furies yet? Ha ha ha!_

* * *

 _ **Hey, Cami.**_

 _ **Everything's okay. Well, as okay as it can be... my village and my father hate me, as usual. And, like all the other times, no, I have done either of those things yet... any day now, I'm sure. Shooting down a NF that is, not talking to Astrid. Ha ha ha...**_

 _ **In other news, my dad's still thinking that he can find the dragons' nest. Gobber tells me that he apparently wants one more search, before winter hits us hard. It seems a little nutty, but hey, anything to get my old man outta the house for a couple weeks!**_

 _ **BTW, I've got some design ideas for a new dragon-shooting weapon I've been working on. I'm thinking of calling it the Mutilator, but that's probably a working title. What do you think?**_

 _ **From Hiccup.**_

 _ **P.S. Just keep practicing at M/T. You'll get it eventually...**_

* * *

 _Hey, Hiccup._

 _I looked over the plans for that Mutilator thing you sent over last week. There could be a few calibration issues, but I'd say it looks pretty cool. Could definitely be handy for shooting down more of those dragons, though I'd say I'm more of a pin-them-down-and-gut-them-with-a-sword type of person._

 _Speaking of, did your tribe start Dragon Training yet? Here, we start in two days, but I guess with this letter getting to you it'll probably be about one and a half days._

 _Just saying, it could be the best time to finally impress everyone there. **;)** \- BTW, this is my new invention I've been working on. I basically use letters and punctuation marks to make faces part of the message. Is it cool or tacky? I can't really tell, and you're my best friend/pen-pal, so I know you'll be honest._

 _Anyway. Good luck with the training, if you're even doing it, that is..._

 _Cami._

* * *

 _Hey Hiccup._

 _So... I couldn't help but notice that you didn't respond to my letter last week... first I thought your letter got lost, or mine did, but the trade-lady said that you took mine from her personally, and you haven't given her a response since. It's kind of weird, not really like you..._

 _Anyway, just write back to me ASAP to let me know you weren't killed by a dragon. Or Astrid._

 _Cami._

* * *

 _Me (Cami) again, Hiccup..._

 _It's been two weeks since I sent my last letter and you still haven't responded to anything. I'm beginning to fear the worst. If you're dead, just let me know, since then I won't be disappointed when you don't turn up at the treaty signing next week._

 _So to reiterate... **Where. The Hell. Are you?**_

* * *

 _ **Hey Cami. It's Hiccup.**_

 _ **I am so sorry that I haven't written, so we've really gotta catch up! Ha ha...**_

 _ **So... we did have dragon training, and through some... unorthodox methods, I even managed to place first. I know that sounds crazy, but if I gotta be honest, that's the least crazy thing that's happened over the last couple weeks.**_

 _ **And no, I was not killed by Astrid or a dragon (well, I was nearly, by both) but at least I managed to shoot down a NF and talk to Astrid. So I guess that's sort of an achievement.**_

 _ **So at the time of this writing, after being in a coma, I've been awake again for like an hour. I'm going to assume your mom got my dad's letter about the dragons' nest, but I'll give you the more important details when I see you next week.**_

 _ **Hiccup.**_


	3. Reunion (post-movie)

**AN: This is about two weeks after the first film, so it takes place before _Gift Of The Night Fury_ and _Riders Of Berk_.**

* * *

 ** _"Cami!"_** Hiccup called out ecstatically as he followed his father and the other representatives onto the dock. The Bog Burglar heir was already waiting to welcome him with a crushing embrace, saying _**"come here, you dashing, dragon-training warrior, you!"**_

 _"So I take it you heard about everything..."_ he wheezed out as she finally released him. Cami had her hands on her hips as she said "uh, yeah, I guess... you finally talked to a member of the opposite gender that _wasn't_ me, killed the Queen of the dragon's nest _and_ you trained a Night Fury, so... _where is it?_ "

"Oh, well, my dad and I thought it'd be best if we didn't bring any dragons over yet... just to make sure you guys know they're not a threat..."

Cami had her arms crossed with a grin, whispering _"I was talking about the leg..."_ in a snarky tone as her eyes motioned down to the small metal contraption that was now attached to Hiccup's left shin.

"Ah, right... well, you know what they say, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it..."

"Oh yeah, and you and pain usually go hand-in-hand..." Cami had an eyebrow raised as she hit him lightly on the shoulder. She kept her smug grin, saying "I'm still bitter you didn't invite me over to help out, though..."

"Right, because I wasn't keeping it a _secret_ or anything like that..." Hiccup snarked, before reaching into his fur jacket and pulling out one of two notebooks. Cami instantly swiped it out of his hand, saying _"and what's in here?"_

"Just pictures of our dragons..." Hiccup had his hands up in surrender. Cami shrugged, saying _"great... I'll get reading, then..."_

* * *

About an hour later, Hiccup managed to sneak out of the celebratory feast that was being thrown in the Great Hall, exhaling heavily as he strolled into the empty village towards the empty stall where Cami was sitting waiting for him. She was reading one of his notebooks and humming to herself.

 _"No scorching sun, nor freezing cold, will stop me on my journey... if you will promise me your h..."_

"What are you singing?" he asked. Cami shrugged, saying "eh... _some old Berk song..._ my mom told me about it..."

Hiccup grinned as he saw her observing the drawings he had done of the dragons, before she stopped at the picture of the Night Fury that was missing half it's tail. "So... this is, uh... what was it again? Uh... _Fang? Furious?_ "

 _"Toothless..."_

"Right, _Toothless_... hm... but you know... I never would have thought a Night Fury would look like that..."

"What were you expecting? A _unicorn?_ "

"A _Pegasus_ , actually..." Cami snarked as she and Hiccup both grinned. "But still... he's all black, right?"

"Yep... it's how they blend in the night, I guess..."

"Must have taken a keen eye to shoot him down, then..."

 _"Uh... yeah... yeah, I guess... I guess it was..."_ Hiccup sighed audibly as he sat down next to her. Cami's grin dropped, realising that this wasn't something Hiccup was proud of. "New conversation?"

 _"Yes, please..."_

"Alright... how's Astrid?"

 _"Oh, uh..."_ Hiccup awkwardly stuttered as he snapped out of his thinking. _"Um... she's... fine... yeah, Astrid's great. She's really, uh... really loosened up a lot, now that it's not kill-or-be-killed anymore... everyone has, obviously, but Astrid's like a totally different person now..."_

"Well she doesn't _look_ all that different..." Cami said as she held up Hiccup's second notebook, which had a finely-detailed picture of Astrid on the last page. Hiccup went wide-eyed as he put his hand to his jacket pocket without feeling anything in it. His head lowered in defeat, before he chuckled and said _"I guess I gotta get used to that..."_

"I still got your old one, by the way..." Cami grinned as she pullled the older, rusted notebook out, before putting it back as she said "but come on... you guys are a thing now, right?"

 ** _"What?! No, absolutely not!"_** Hiccup insisted, going slightly red in the face. _**"Yeah, we're friends, if even that, but that's it!"**_

 _"Ugh... typical boy... you expect it to just get handed to you..."_

"Hey, I'd rather Astrid give me... give me, uh... uh... _it_... give me it willingly than embarrass myself asking for something that's obviously out of my league... all I did was not kill a dra..."

 _"Obviously out of my league... oh, poor me! All I did was this, this and this!"_ Cami snapped mockingly, putting on a nasally voice to mimic Hiccup's. _**"Ugh... what did I tell you about deprecating yourself? Gods, you trained a Night Fury and you've got a metal leg to prove it! You should be getting swarmed by all the girls on your island by now!"**_

"Well... there's only two girls my age on the whole island, so... whatever..." Hiccup sighed. "Well, what do you expect me to do?"

 ** _"Grow a pair and ask her out by the next treaty signing... or I will!"_** Cami snapped, though she was still grinning as she said this. Hiccup gulped at the thought of this, before saying "well, how exactly will you be able to know if I actually do?"

 _"Oh... you didn't hear our parents?"_ Cami said mischievously. Hiccup had an eyebrow raised, before saying "what did they say?"

"Well, my mother and your father have come to a mutual agreement that our next treaty signing's going to be on Berk... just so we can get a good luck at your new _dragon-friendly environment..._ "

 _ **"Oh, Gods... Cami, that's great!"**_ Hiccup said. _**"Oh, man... I... Toothless is gonna love you, 120%..."**_

 _"Yeah, I know right? It's four years away but I'm so excited!"_ Cami was practically gushing as she said this, though she straightened up again and said "but... that also means that you've got a deadline, Haddock..."

 _"Deadline? What f... wait... oh, man..."_ Hiccup sunk miserably as Cami passed him his two notebooks back, patting him on the shoulder as she said "good luck, pal..."


	4. Letters (RTTE)

**AN: These are** **letters exchanged shortly before and during** **_Race To the Edge_.**

* * *

 _Hey, Hiccup._

 _So I was thinking about how your dad finally patched things up with Alvin's gang on Outcast Island three years ago. Remember? I'm glad, I guess, but I wasn't entirely surprised that you had something to do with it. Quite the peacekeeper you're gonna grow into, huh?_

 _But I was thinking about Dagur too. He probably wants some revenge against you guys, but I wouldn't worry about him. He's all mouth and no pants, anyway. I might pay him a visit while he's in prison, see if he's still the coward he always was._

 _What's new over on Berk, btw?_

 _Cami._

* * *

 _ **Hey, Cami.**_

 _ **So it would seem, due to unforseen circumstances, me and the other riders have decided to relocate to another island. I'm not sure how long for, but if we're gonna keep writing it'll probably have to be done through Terror-Mail until we come back.**_

 _ **So if/when you see a green Terrible Terror on your windowsill with a scroll tied to it's neck, don't freak out and don't try to kill him. It'll just be Sharpshot.**_

 ** _Hiccup._**

* * *

 _Hey, Hiccup._

 _I'd have responded sooner, but if I gotta be honest your little buddy Sharpshot here was really tired and he was really cute when he was sleeping, so I decided to wait a couple days. Hope it's no trouble._

 _So I know it's been a while since I last asked, but I was just wondering... have you made any progress with little Miss Hofferson? I just thought, with you guys apparently being on a different island together, you'll be seeing a lot more of each other so it's probably your last chance before I come over there._

 _Cami._

* * *

 ** _Hey, Cami._**

 ** _Sorry it's been a while, but we've had a really tough couple of months trying to stop this bunch of Dragon Hunters from taking our Dragon Eyes (those are these special items btw, not our dragons' eyeballs, ha ha). It's pretty complicated, but their boss has turned out to be a big fan of Maces and Talons, so I'm sure you guys'd get along like a house on fire. Ha ha!_**

 ** _But, in a weird turn of events, Dagur of all people is on our side now. Who'd have thought that was gonna happen?_**

 ** _As for Astrid, if I have to be honest, she and I get along fine as just friends. And I know what you said you were gonna do if I didn't ask her out, but I don't mind. Besides, knowing your... let's call it charms (ha ha) I'm sure Astrid would be lucky to have you._**

 ** _Anyway, hopefully this'll all be over soon so I can get ready for you visiting._**

 ** _Hiccup._**

* * *

 _Hey, Hiccup._

 _As disappointed as I am to hear about you giving up on Astrid, I'll accept your decision. Aside from Toothless, I'm pretty much your best friend, so I'll support you no matter what._

 _Anyway, as for Dagur, I guess since you guys are on good terms we'll finally be able to meet up some time. Maybe after the next treaty signing. Can't wait to try and drown him like he tried to do with you (I'll go easy on him if you want, ha ha)_

 _So, the usual. If you're busy, just respond to this letter when you can. But just in case you die, make sure someone writes to me to let me know. I don't wanna get worried sick again like I was during Dragon Training._

 _Cami._

* * *

 ** _Hey, Cami._**

 ** _So, my dad told me it apparently doesn't matter, but I thought I'd let you know anyway since it's been about six months since I last wrote. It turns out Trader Johann has been working against all of us this whole time, and the Dragon Hunters all work for him._**

 ** _Apparently your mom's gonna be giving my dad the whole "I told you so" treatment at the treaty signing because of this, but I want you guys to know about it just to be safe._**

 ** _Anyway, on a more interesting note, just when I thought that Dagur joining us was the most bizarre turn of events we'd go through, you'll be happy to know that, through an even more bizarre turn of events, that Astrid and I are betrothed now._**

 ** _So I'm sure once you're done shrieking in delight, you'll be congratulating me. Funny how it only took me until she was infected with the Scourge of Odin, blinded in a lightning storm and we were both nearly killed Thor knows how many other times to finally tell her how I've always felt._**

 ** _Typical boy, right?_**

 ** _Ha ha. Anyway, we've got a lot on our hands right now, but hopefully I won't have to wait another six months to write to you._**

 ** _Hiccup._**

* * *

 _OH MY GODS! I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU GUYS ACTUALLY GOT TOGETHER! HA HA HA! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT! MY SHIP EIGHT YEARS IN THE MAKING HAS OFFICIALLY SAILED! ALL ABOARD!_

 _Anyway, hey, Hiccup._

 _I wouldn't worry about Johann coming to our island. He's not been welcome here since he used one of my mom's... ahem... nicknames during his last visit. Keep in mind, his last visit was about a week after we last met in person. But if I can help out at all, you know where to find me._

 _Cami._

* * *

 ** _Hey, Cami._**

 ** _The Dragon Hunters are gone and Johann's now a human ice sculpture in the King of Dragons' cavern, so at the very least we won't be hearing any of his boring trader stories ever again. Ha ha!_**

 ** _We destroyed the Dragon Eyes and we've all moved back to Berk. Much as I enjoyed our time at the Edge, we've all agreed that it's time to go home again._**

 ** _Looking forward to seeing you next month, as I'm sure Toothless and Astrid are too._**

 ** _Hiccup._**

* * *

 _Hey, Hiccup._

 _I'm really glad you're back at Berk in time for the treaty signing. Can't wait to see Astrid, and I especially can't wait to see that Night Fury of yours. And don't think that I've not got a little wedding present for your fiancee. ;)_

 _I hope you and Astrid don't like your ribs, because the first thing I'm gonna do when I get off that boat is give you both a big, tight, crushing hug! Ha ha!_

 _Looking forward to seeing you guys._

 _Cami._


	5. Arrival (He's Mine)

**AN: This is the same day that Cami arrives on Berk in _He's Mine_.**

* * *

 _"Come on! Come on! Come on!"_

Cami had been up since before first light, frantically rushing around her bedroom and house checking, double-checking and triple-checking that she had everything she needed for the visit. _"Alright... sword 1... yep... sword 2... yep... uh... what else? What else? Ugh! What else?!"_

She had her palm to her face and was breathing heavily as she tried to think, suddenly shouting **_"ooh!"_** as she patted her fur vest and reached into the pocket to pull out the old, rusty notebook she had taken from Hiccup eight years ago. _**"Ah-ha!"**_ she scoffed smugly. The last thing she wanted to do was forget her wedding present for Hiccup's soon-to-be-wife.

* * *

 ** _"Wait? That's Berk?"_** she looked with an eyebrow raised as she saw the island that was still about a mile away from their ship. With all the snarky comments that she and Hiccup had often exchanged about their homes, this place looked much less dreary than Hiccup's descriptions had implied.

She'd always remembered this one description that Hiccup tended to use a lot when talking to her about Berk: _"Twelve days North of Hopeless, a few degrees South of Freezing To Death and located solidly on the Meridian of Misery..."_

The ship was now about five minutes away from the dock, and Cami was able to make out Hiccup's notably taller but still lanky physique standing behind Stoick and Gobber. He was holding hands with a slightly shorter figure, Cami almost gushing with excitement when she realised that this _had_ to be Astrid.

She was so excited that she had almost forgotten what she was planning to do, but she remembered as she quickly climbed over the starboard side of the ship, hanging onto one of the shields that was hooked onto the side of it. When the ship docked, Cami slowly shifted herself to the back end of the ship, keeping herself below the dock and the Berkians' eyeline as she climbed to the port end of the ship and finally hooked herself onto one of the poles of the dock, right under their feet.

She remained hidden under the dock as the captain of her tribe's guards stepped off the ship first, a stern look on her face and an axe in her hand. As the other two guards came next, Bertha followed them off of the ship, stopping in front of Stoick with a smug look on her face. He nodded, saying _"hello, Bertha."_

 _"Stoick…"_ Bertha nodded. It had been clear during the last signing that Stoick had been looking forward to showing off their new dragons to Bertha, but with the Johann fiasco she now had the upper hand on him once again.

Bertha walked with her guard, Stoick and Gobber into the village while the couple stayed on the dock for a few seconds, obviously waiting for Cami. She kept hanging under the dock, looking up through the floorboard to see Hiccup and Astrid's reaction to her supposed absence. After about a minute passed with her apparently not showing up, she noticed both Astrid and Hiccup's faces dropping a bit with slight disappointment.

 _Well... here we go..._ she thought to herself as she slowly and silently climbed onto the dock, standing behind an unknowing Hiccup and Astrid with a grin on her face. Though he seemed a little disappointed that she apparently wasn't there, Hiccup suddenly grew a wider smile and he sighed in audible relief, turning to Astrid as he said "well, I gotta be honest, Astrid… I'm actually kinda glad she's not here…"

 _"Yeah, who wouldn't be?"_ Cami suddenly said in a playfully sarcastic tone as Astrid and Hiccup both went wide-eyed. _"She'd just be making fun of her best friend and letting all the cool kids know he's still that awkward kid he was four years ago…"_

 ** _"Cami!"_**


End file.
